So two separate people asked me if I had cerebral palsy.

[backscatter712]

While I haven't been officially diagnosed, I do appear to have some signs.

Assuming I did have CP, it would be very mild - the kind that doesn't do much more than make one walk a little funny and be bad at sports. I'm 38, but I've had minor physical problems since I was born.

So I'm curious.

Just for my symptomology: I was born with club feet, both feet, treated at various times through my life with surgery, PT and orthotics. Currently, my right foot is the worst foot, with some hammer toes, very high arch, cavus deformity (it turns inward), and very little flexibility.

I'm pretty inflexible - I've never been able to touch my toes without bending my knees - my hamstrings are very tight. So are my achilles tendons - while I can get my heels on the ground and avoid toe-walking, it does throw off my gait. My knees are tending to hyperextend.

What do you think? Advice?

[HockeyMom]

1. How is your speech?

Do you have a slurring, even if minor, of your words? How are your hands and gripe? CP doesn't just affect the legs. While I have worked with CP people, a doctor would be the professional to advise you.

[backscatter712]

3. My speech is mostly OK. My hands have some anatomical quirks.

I cannot straighten the joints as the base of my thumbs, and I can claw the joints at the base of my pinkies backwards 45 degrees.

When I was a kid, I had some speech therapy - I had some developmental delays there, but these days, my speech is fine. I do have some auditory processing issues - the cocktail party effect, where a person can pick out a conversation in a room full of talking people, is pretty hard for me. I need quiet in order to have a conversation, or I struggle to hear what people are saying.

[struggle4progress]

2. I'm not Dr Frist! Maybe you could talk to a real doctor in person to get an opinion?

[backscatter712]

4. I have been seeing doctors to deal with my foot problems.

Next time I have the opportunity, I'll ask them.

[happyslug]

5. First see of what people is calling CP, it could be just your club feet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_foot

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_palsy

I mention this for a lot of people call anything that causes a person NOT to walk "normal" as Cerebral Palsy. This is improper, but common. I suspect what people are calling Cerebral Palsy in you, are the results of your club feet NOT Cerebral Palsy. The only sure way is to ask your doctor for an opinion. No one here is qualified to give such an opinion (and neither am I).

Just a comment of what is and is NOT Cerebral Palsy and that if you have it, the long term affect of your club feet would affect you more then any but the most severe Cerebral Palsy. Ask a doctor not a discussion forum.

[backscatter712]

8. The odd thing is that one of those two people who asked me if I had CP has CP herself.

She has a more serious case that really affects her walking, her speech, and makes it hard for her to do fine manipulation.

She spotted a few things, like my gait and my hands that made her think I might have CP. I'm not sure if that's true. Like I said, I'm just curious.

And you're right. I'll mention it to my doctor next time I go see him.

For the most part, my physical problems are club-foot related - residual deformity, arch pain, tendonitis, periodic sprains & other injuries, callouses on the ball of my foot where most of my weight is mal-distributed, sore knees from bad biomechanics...

[libodem]

6. I loved my cp clients the best

When I worked at the State School and Hospital. But later in life I was working in drug treatment and our cook's daughter had mild CP. I never would have known, without having been told. She was a little awkward but had learning difficulties and that spurred her Dx.

My ISSH, CP clients were my smartest, most determined, loving people. Intact mentality but their poor bodies were alternately floppy or stiff. Sometimes, one stiff side one flacid side. They were my favorites.

I wish you the best. Having a body with a mind of its own must be a challenge. You sound like you are up for it!

[Lionessa]

7. If you've seen as many docs as your initial problems would likely put you in front of,

I would guess that someone has considered that. Perhaps you should be discussing this with one or more of your doctors, though I imagine that if they thought CP was a possibility you'd know it by 38, I don't think it's something that comes with age.

[Ilsa]

9. Please try to get your mother's

health history, especially for when she was pregnant with you. Measles or some other illness could cause these problems. Also try to get as much information about your delivery as possible. Were you born by C-section? If so, why did they have to deliver you that way? This will aid your dr in making a diagnosis.

I hope you get answers soon, and that you get whatever physical therapy you might need for a good life.